Canada's budget watchdog has come under friendly fire from Liberal Party ranks. That's odd in the sense that opposition MPs normally love watchdogs such as parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page, because they call the incumbent to account.
But Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett, whose own party is otherwise actively working to expand Mr. Page's powers, is marching to a different drum.
She called for Mr. Page to be reined in during an interview in this week's edition of The Hill Times. Ms. Bennett said she's unhappy about Mr. Page's public disagreement with his boss, Library of Parliament chief librarian William Young, and believes the open battle damages the institution of Parliament and the respect of the Speakers of the House and Senate.
"I don't know of another bureaucrat or public servant who gets to go public when their budget is cut. A deputy minister would be fired," Ms. Bennett told The Hill Times. "You don't do this in the court of public opinion. Usually, you do this at committees and in estimates and you make your case and if you don't get the money you want, then you are quiet and, at the next try do this, so I've been concerned that even though it seems, in terms of the reporting of this, that it was a criticism of the Speakers or a criticism of the Parliamentary Library, this is supposed to be about Parliamentarians and about the public, not about a new institution."
It's a worthy argument, but perhaps one she should first hash out with Liberal finance critic John McCallum. He's attempting to pass a motion that would help cement the independence of Mr. Page's office.
The motion: "February 3, 2009 — Mr. McCallum (Markham-Unionville) — That, in the opinion of the House: (a) the Parliamentary Budget Officer is an independent officer of the Library of Parliament who reports to the Speakers of both Chambers and is, subject to direction from the Speakers and the Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament, entitled to decide how to fulfill his mandate and obligations as set out in section 79.2 of the Parliament of Canada Act; (b) the Parliamentary Librarian must ensure that the overall control and management of the Library of Parliament facilitates the ability of the Parliamentary Budget Officer to fulfill that mandate and obligations; and (c) the government should co-operate fully with the Parliamentary Budget Officer on all matters with respect to which he is called upon to report."
